Book Information

Book ID Asin: B07C8BNLJ2
Book Title: Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula, and the Rise of the Modern NFL
Book Author: Jack Gilden
Book Format and Price:
Book Format Name: Kindle
Book Format Price: $16.44
Book Format Name: Audiobook
Book Format Price: $0.00
Book Format Name: Hardcover
Book Format Price: $28.34
Book Format Name: Paperback
Book Format Price: $21.64
Book Price: $16.44
Book Category: Books, History, Americas and unknown
Book Rating: 162 ratings

Book Product Detail

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Book Review

Name: Immer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: AGoodEditFromPerfection
Date: Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2019
Review: Collision of WillsJack Gilden’s Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula, and the Rise of the Modern NFL, is a very good book, tough to put down, and in need of an edit to make it one of the best sport books I have ever read. Before I begin with the review, allow me to say I was a young boy of seven, living in Illinois, when I was mesmerized by names such as Unitas, Gino Marchetti, Alan “The Horse” Ameche, Jim Mutscheller, LennyMoore, among others. Many shirts were altered by magic markers with Raymond Berry’s Number 82. Gilden’s book takes one back into the 1950’s where the reader can smell the dirt, grass and blood that dominated the fields of the time, and slowly transitioned to the sterile plastic surfaces of so many of today’s venues. He documents the building of the Baltimore Colt dynasty by Weeb Ewbank, it’s continuation under Don Shula, and their assistant coaches who went on to later fame in the NFL. All the while, the golden arm of Johnny Unitas provided the vector, the focal point, the glue to weld the storyline together.Gilden includes stories, game highlights, and anecdotes of many of the Colts and those they opposed. This reader felt as though he was there, eavesdropping from the bottom of the pile on a conversation between Art Donovan and Bobby Layne. Gilden reinforces how tough and bloodied the quarterbacks of the 50’s and 60’s were, with stories like Unitas staunching the flow of blood from the bridge of his nose, and nose itself with dirt from the playing field. He relates how Unitas and Raymond Berry may have been have been responsible for the fall from the playing ranks of Don Shula by destroying him as a defensive back while Shula played for the Redskins. All the while, Weeb Ewbank was the man they all had in common.As much as I enjoyed Collision of Wills, I found some parts redundant, and other sections left me feeling that they were assemblages of spare parts. Gilden attempts to document how the world was changing around the game, and loses focus on how the game itself was changing, only to snap back in uneven transitions. His analogies for the evolving sexual revolution include long sections about authors Gay Talese, Philip Roth and John Updike. Challenge of the status quo and Vietnam was exemplified David Halberstam. One also gets perceives that Gilden was not a fan of John F Kennedy. This section of the book was almost painful as it served as a backdrop of Johnny Unitas’s failing marriage. One gets the feeling Unitas was a man’s man, a lion among his fellow men who had ice water flowing through his veins in the game he played professionally, all the while employing the same personality traits to end his first marriage.Collision of Wills, the animosity between Shula and Unitas, is also somewhat nebular. Unitas was of an era where QB’s called their own plays, to control the game from the playing field. Shula was a new era coach as the game evolved to plays being called by the beach or press box. The game was changing, and though Johnny Unitas was still “the man” the physical nature of pro football was taking its toll on him. The 1964 defeat by the Cleveland Browns, in the NFL championship, the 1965 knee injury that lead to Tom Matte’s emergency insertion as quarterback, 1967 an 11 1 and 2 year where the Colts did not make the playoffs all contributed to a sense of urgency and frustration. The fortuitous trade for Earl Morall for the 1968 season as a backup for Unitas, all contributed to the friction between Unitas and Shula culminating with the defeat of the Colts in Super Bowl III by Joe Namath and the New York Jets, who were coached by none other than Weeb Ewbank.An entire chapter deals with the Colt/Jet game. I can remember the game like it was yesterday. The Colts were heavily favored and I was hoping for an interesting game, not a blow out. I got what I wanted, but not necessarily the desired results. Gilden is masterful in capturing the aura of the game. The Colts moved the ball up and down the field in the first half, and did not get on the scoreboard. Morall hit his tight end in the end zone only to have the ball deflected for an interception, and before the end of the first half, had Jimmy Orr wide open in the end zone and could not find him. Lou Michaels missed field goal opportunities. The Colts, if the football gods had favored them, should have been up 17-7 at half, but instead trailed 7-0. The deficit was 13-0 going into the fourth quarter prior to Unitas and his sore arm entering the game. All one has to to do is look at the game films to witness the dying quails Unitas was throwing and Gilden captures this well in his descriptions. Unitas was “willing” the Colts back into the game, but too little too late, and it’s difficult to impossible to say if his starting the game would have made any difference in its outcome, but Gilden capitalizes on the rift that formed between the Colts owner Carrol Rosenbloom and Shula, that lead to the departure of Shula to the Miami Dolphins.Before making my review as long as the book, two more bones to pick with Gilden. The first deals with the Super Bowl and the Jet’s supposed game plan, supposedly because Namath threw the ball twenty fewer times than he did against the Raiders two weeks before and Snell ran the ball eleven more times than against Oakland. “The Jets avoided their own strengths and instead focused on Baltimore’s weaknesses, wisely, as it turned out.” No. The Colts self destructed, turned the ball over five times, and simply did not capitalize on situations that were handed to them. The score of the game dictated the Jets play calling, just as the lead switching game against Oakland dictated Namath passed more often. The balanced Jet attack was just as much a product of the games score, as it was the Jets game plan. The Jets averaged 29.9 points per game during the season. They only scored 16 in the Super Bowl. One can not fault the Colts defense. The defense kept the Colts in the game despite four interceptions and one fumble by the offense. The bounce of the ball and luck just weren’t on the side of the Colts. The Colts out-gained the Jets by a yard on the ground and Namath out passed the Colts by 21 yards. The reason the Jets beat the Colts had nothing to do with game plan, and everything to do with Morall’s bad luck and abysmal game.Last problem with Gilden’s book is on the last page of Collision of Wills. “ In his long career Shula matched wits with Lombardi, Paul Brown, George Halas, Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, George Allen, Tom Landry, Bill Parcells, and Bill Belichick. In all, he went to seven NFL Championship or Super Bowl games. He developed three Hall of Fame quarterbacks - Unitas, Griese, and Marino.” I’m sorry, but as good as Shula May have been as a coach, he had little to nothing to do with the “development of Johnny Unitas as a quarterback, as documented throughout Gilden’s own book.Despite my sniping at Gilden’s Collision of Wills, it was a compelling read and difficult to put down. As a fan of the Baltimore Colts from the age of seven, Gilden provided me with historical flashbacks to a time of more intimacy with the game and the players with all its lumps and bumps, before it evolved into the polished product of today. If you were a fan of the Baltimore Colts, or if you have interest in the development of professional football in the 1950’s and 60’s, give Jack Gilden’s Collision of Wills a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Name: Joel Drucker
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: historywrittenbythenearwinners
Date: Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2018
Review: History, written by the winners? What about the near-winners? Or are they just losers? Those who've studied the NFL of the '60s have likely had ample portions of Green Bay Packers lore -- and why not for the most victorious team of that significant decade of pro football's history? But those who came close to glory have much to tell too, as this insightful look into the Baltimore Colts reveals. League champions in '58-'59, led by the scintillating Johnny Unitas, the Colts from 1963-'68 nipped at the heels of greatness, only to come up short in a great many of those wacky ways that can afflict those perennial contenders (i.e. Brooklyn Dodgers of the '40s and '50s, Buffalo Bills of the '90s); and, so, therefore, yet more tragic than teams that enjoy a moment and vanish. With future Hall of Famers Unitas at QB and Don Shula as coach, this team surely should have done more than be upset in a pair of championship games ('64 NFL, Super Bowl III) and just miss out on other occasions. But such is the tale. Gilden tells it smoothly, tracking through various players, across egos and time, gain and pain. The pro game was in transition from the leather helmet era to glitz, glamor and becoming the darling of Madison Avenue -- but not quite. The portraits of Unitas, Shula and many other people and moments -- including new insights into why the Colts were upset by the New York Jets in that infamous Super Bowl -- make this a compelling mix of sports and culture.

Name: Chris Crossont
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: TheBookThatGotMeBannedFromAFacebookGroup
Date: Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2021
Review: I love reading about the older eras of sports and, as a Baltimore native and Baltimore Colts fan, I had high hopes for this book.About 60% of the book gave me what I wanted and that was insight into the working relationship between Unitas and Shula. What was there was very well written and had a good flow. Sadly, a large chunk of the book would take me off on social justice tangents that were not needed or wanted. At points in my reading, I'd almost forget what the book was supposed to be about.The book spends a lot of time beating the dead horse of race relations in the United States during the 60's. Is there any way we can possibly get away from this? I get it, I'm white and I am supposed to hate myself because of my skin color and that I am supposed to be forever apologetic to black and Jewish people for things I never did or never would do.....blah blah blah.It's a tired trope and I am pretty sure it is never going away so the best that we can do is warn others to not waste their time and money on things that will continue to lecture them on how awful they are based on their race.I brought this up to the author directly on a Facebook group, Pro Football Books, and, to his credit, he was very cordial and interacted with me after I voiced my concerns with his book. We disagreed of course but it was a nice chat. The owner of the FB group, a radical leftist, took his chance to toss me out for violating his "no politics" rule but I am sure it was pure delight for him to remove a conservative straight white guy. The "politics" we discussed was the political direction of the book but I digress......To conclude, I would not talk anyone out of reading this but I wanted to just make sure that people know that there is more to it than just the Unitas/Shula topic.

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